Emotional Connection at a Physical Distance: Phone vs Screen Treatment During Covid and Beyond (Julia Davies, Ph.D - Ann Arbor)

Abstract

This paper discusses qualities of emotional receptivity, depth, and engagement that can occur in psychoanalysis or psychotherapy conducted by telephone.  It also explores dimensions of in-person, screen, and phone treatments that may enhance or detract from therapeutic efficacy. In some cases, the absence of visual presence afforded by phone treatment may paradoxically allow both participants to attune to subtle emotional dimensions in themselves and the other with greater acuity than may be achieved on a screen or even in person, as self-consciousness is decreased and space for reverie expanded.  Dr. Davies also examines screen modalities, which are preferable for some patients and dyads, but not for others. She presents a long-term analysis conducted largely by phone that made abundant use of our intimately connected solitudes.  This paper has just been published in Psychoanalytic Perspectives; An International Journal of Integration and Innovation.

Bio

Julia E. Davies, PhD is a psychologist and psychoanalyst on the faculties of the National Training Program in Contemporary Psychoanalysis at NIP, and the Michigan Council for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.  She received graduate degrees from Harvard University and Adelphi University. She has published in psychoanalytic journals and presented papers nationally and internationally on topics such as the paradoxical nature of self-interest, “self-fulness,” cultural dimensions of intersubjectivity, multiplicity in psychoanalysis, the poetry of dreams, and the development of personal authority.  She maintains a private practice in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, supervision, and consultation in Ann Arbor, MI. 

Learning Objectives 

1) Summarize the differences between psychotherapy by phone and psychotherapy by screen.            

2) Assess the best modality of treatment for each individual patient.

3) Conduct psychotherapy by phone efficaciously.